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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26547310">Hard Won</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNewOrleans22/pseuds/QueenOfNewOrleans22'>QueenOfNewOrleans22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bon Jovi (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Songfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:48:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26547310</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfNewOrleans22/pseuds/QueenOfNewOrleans22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief summary of how it all came to be.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hard Won</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My grandmother died a few hours ago, after her throat cancer had reached her brain.<br/>She was a wonderful woman, though not a saint. But even the devil doesn't deserve what happened to her.<br/>I love you, and will forever miss you.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Joey comes from a sacred part of town-</em>
</p><p>They met in a bar, dark and seedy, with the smell of whisky and smoke clouding their senses. </p><p>
  <em>Where you talk so tough, your feet don't touch the ground- </em>
</p><p>Richie is hopeful, standing there with his guitar, and Jon is weary, giving noncommittal answers. </p><p>
  <em>And the sidewalk soldiers, sing their midnight blues- </em>
</p><p>But Richie proved himself, an unlikely fit, and Jon was glad to just finally have a guitarist again. </p><p>
  <em>Where the old men recite their story lines about when I was going like you- </em>
</p><p>They became fast friends, bonding over their love of music. </p><p>
  <em>They say, oh yeah, we were cruisin' to the back beat- </em>
</p><p>But there was always an undercurrent, distant and unsaid, that remained just beyond. </p><p>
  <em>Oh yeah, makin' love, in the backseats- </em>
</p><p>Sometimes, when it was just them, they talked about everything and nothing at the same time, dancing just beyond what couldn't be mentioned. </p><p>
  <em>We were wild, wild in the streets, wild, wild in the streets- </em>
</p><p>And sometimes, eyes lingered for just a moment longer than just accidental. </p><p>
  <em>A member of the boys brigade had a date with the girl next door- </em>
</p><p>Richie confessed things to Jon, secrets that neither his mother or father knew about, memories and fears, mistakes and triumphs. Jon always sought ought Richie for comfort whenever his insecurities, old and new, reered their ugly heads and seemed to darken the days. </p><p>
  <em>You know it made her daddy crazy, and only made her want him more- </em>
</p><p>Glances that were nearly caught, grazing touches that seemed too close. </p><p>
  <em>They weren't looking for trouble, the boy didn't want to fight, that's right- </em>
</p><p>And it all finally came a head in 1988, when they were thrust headfirst into their tour and stuck there. </p><p>
  <em>So, she headed out through her bathroom window, what her daddy didn't know was gonna be alright- </em>
</p><p>They were sharing a room in one of the many, many hotels that had become routine, and Richie had said something, a raunchy joke in passing that didn't mean a single thing. </p><p>
  <em>They said, oh yeah, we were cruisin' to the backbeat- </em>
</p><p>And Jon had smiled, eyes lighting up, and said he wouldn't made doing what was said to Richie. </p><p>
  <em>Oh, yeah, makin' love, in the backseats- </em>
</p><p>Richie had been shocked by the sudden admission, but then the butterflies in his stomach went rampant, and his mouth had worked faster than his brain. </p><p>
  <em>We were wild, wild in the streets, wild, in the streets- </em>
</p><p>In a way, it had seemed like fate. </p><p>
  <em>Wild, wild in the streets- </em>
</p><p>Their bodies fit together in a way that seemed natural, and despite the initial hesitancy, fear and anxiety curdling together, it was the best experience either of them had ever had. </p><p>
  <em>Wild, wild in the streets, rock me- </em>
</p><p>Richie wondered if it was all just a dream, because it had been too good for it to have been real. Jon had laughed and kissed him again. </p><p>
  <em>Sometimes, this town ain't pretty but you know what? It ain't so bad-</em>
</p><p>It was a sworn secret, after all, they were ladies' men, and such a thing couldn't be spoken aloud for fear of alienation. </p><p>
  <em>Just like the girl that looks so happy when inside she's so, so, sad- </em>
</p><p>What started as a semi-casual fling, turned into something so much more. </p><p>
  <em>We've got a code of honor, no one's going down- </em>
</p><p>Until Jon began to live for Richie's voice, and Richie began to live for Jon's smile. </p><p>
  <em>You don't walk your way through the kids parade- </em>
</p><p>That's when it became a little worrying, but what's the point of loving somebody when you couldn't show it? It was a lesson that was hard won, realizing that just because others said it was wrong doesn't mean it really was wrong. </p><p>
  <em>'Cause this is my hometown. </em>
</p><p>Richie and Jon wouldn't have had it any other way, because any other outcome wouldn't have been as amazing as the one where they stuck by each other's side through the turmoil that was life. </p>
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